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New England Patriots Fire Back at NY Times Over White House Photo


President Donald Trump is presented with a New England Patriots football helmet and jersey by Patriots coach Bill Belichick and Patriots owner Robert Kraft during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, April 19, 2017.
President Donald Trump is presented with a New England Patriots football helmet and jersey by Patriots coach Bill Belichick and Patriots owner Robert Kraft during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, April 19, 2017.

There’s another kerfuffle about crowd size surrounding the president.

On Wednesday, the Super Bowl-winning New England Patriots visited the White House to meet U.S. President Donald Trump.

As is the tradition, there were plenty of photo opps, including a group photo.

The New York Times then tweeted the group shot photo and compared it to the 2015 shot, which also featured the Patriots.

Some players declined to visit the controversial president. Star quarterback Tom Brady, a friend of Trump, also missed the event, saying he had to attend to family issues.

Upon a quick glance, it looked like there were fewer people in the 2017 shot, but the Patriots quickly pointed out that the Times comparison lacked a key piece of information.

“These photos lack context. Facts: In 2015, over 40 football staff were on the stairs. In 2017, they were seated on the South Lawn,” the team tweeted from its official account.

Trump, who appears to have a love-hate relationship with what he has called the “failing” New York Times, was quick to weigh in.

“Failing @nytimes, which has been calling me wrong for two years, just got caught in a big lie concerning New England Patriots visit to W.H.,” the president tweeted from his @realDonaldTrump account.

Later in the day, the New York Times' sports editor issued an apology.

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